Browse Characters — Learn Chinese Through Stories

Every character has an origin. Discover the pictographs, myths, and history behind each Chinese character — with pinyin, stroke order, HSK level, and audio pronunciation.

bǐng

This rare, poetic 'sad' hides in classical texts

A rare 'ritual failure' character: its very struct

fèi

This character’s 8 strokes hide a literary time c

pēng

This 8-stroke heart-character doesn’t show a puls

This 'harmony' character hides a teacup-shaped anc

zhòu

This rare grief-character hides a heart literally

This 'distressed' character hides dawn (旦) above

A 'dwelling mind' character — its shape literally

This 'heart-locked-in-antiquity' character doesn’

tiē

This ‘peaceful’ character doesn’t stand alone

zhēng

This character’s 'upright' component (正) doesn’

yàng

This 8-stroke character hides a 2,300-year-old hea

zuò

This 8-stroke character hides a philosophical punc

chāo

This 8-stroke character hides a 'knife' (刂) besid

忿

fèn

This 'divided heart' character doesn’t mean every

xīn

This elegant 'happy' character hides a phonetic se

xiān

This 'desire' character hides an axe in its heart

chén

This 'sincerity' character hides a crown: its righ

zhì

This rare 7-stroke character hides a moral landmin

biàn

Though it looks like a simple 'heart + quick', 忭

zhōng

This 7-stroke character looks like 'center' + 'hea

This character looks like a heart crossed by 'noon

chōng

This 'grieved' character hides an insect in plain

mín

This eight-stroke heart-character looks humble but

tiǎn

This character hides 'heaven' (天) atop 'earth' (

fān

A phantom character — 忛 is a centuries-old scrib

cǔn

A six-stroke masterpiece: heart (忄) + ruler (寸)

shì

This six-stroke character hides a moral alarm: 忕